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**Title: Cost a fortune for a rundown ship – staff attitude and standards were shocking** We sailed on the Costa Fortuna on 21 June 2026, round trip from Istanbul via the Greek Islands, with three cabins for our family of seven. It was the first time we'd all managed to get away together in three years, and sadly it was a real letdown. The staff attitude was the biggest issue. Almost every interaction felt like we were asking for a favour rather than getting the service we'd paid for. No one smiled, staff were often abrupt and rude, and it felt like box-ticking rather than genuine hospitality. Restaurants closed well before their advertised times, staff were clearly eager to clear us out, and when we asked for ketchup we were told the keys to where it was kept had been "lost. " The one shining exception was our dinner waiter, Mo, who was brilliant every night and showed everyone else on board what real service looks like. The ship simply wasn't big enough for the number of passengers. Expect 20-minute queues at mealtimes, queues for a drink, and nowhere near enough sun loungers. People reserved loungers and jumped straight into the pools and jacuzzis with zero staff enforcement, no visible management, no lifeguard, and the "no children in the jacuzzi" signs were completely ignored. Loungers were also regularly covered in black soot from the chimney. The ship itself is badly signposted, with restaurants and venues barely labelled. Food was the same every day and had nothing to do with the incredible places we visited. Basic hygiene was poor too – no hand-washing facilities before meals and tables that often felt unclean. Then there's the upselling – it's relentless. Even in a suite, we were charged £2. 50 per coffee capsule and £4 for a bottle of water, fruit at breakfast had to be handed to you by an attendant (as if you couldn't be trusted with it yourself), and meal service windows were kept deliberately short. We paid £100 for a "full" internet package that barely worked, our kids' cabin paid for a social media package, and another cabin paid for internet too – £290 spent between us on services that were essentially useless. Communication on board was poor, with very little English spoken and constant, excessive tannoy announcements. Entertainment was the same every night, there was little else to do, and the ship barely showed any World Cup matches despite it being on during our cruise. We've sailed with Royal Caribbean before, and there's no comparison – this wouldn't score above 0/5 next to that experience. It's clear this ship is being run down rather than maintained, yet Costa is still charging premium prices for it. If you're not going to maintain the standard, you shouldn't be charging a premium for the cruise. Would not recommend, and we won't be sailing with Costa again.
Would not go on a Costa cruise ship again to many people for the areas 15% surcharge on everything even the drinks package etc etc
Overall we were happy with the cruise, staff excellent, cleanliness and food good, entertainment very good, I am 81 and my wife is 76 years of age, we could not understand why you put us in a resort hotel aimed at young families, with the room being up 3 flights of stairs or steep ramps. No problem with staff or food. we are also concerned regarding the taxi arrangements, The office for the taxi at the airport was closed on arrival, no driver waiting, not easy to resolve. The taxi pick up from the cruise ship was a shambles, we were informed the taxi was on its way with no detailed information, we were put into a wrong taxi by port staff, having shown our taxi voucher to both port personnel and driver, in consequence we had left the port in the wrong taxi which cost us 25 euro to return to port to get into the correct taxi. A simple ID of vehicle number plate and driver name would have been advisable. We would like to be recompensed for the cost we should not have. incurred.
Booking with Iglu cruise is really easy, very helpful and supportive staff so everything was a breeze. Website was easy and clear. Costa cruise app was really useless prior to the cruise which is annoying as we could have booked dinner venues or even spa sessions prior to being onboard, however we had no problem getting reservations whilst onboard. This was a full cruise which meant 6700 people were onboard excluding the staff, however we did not feel at any point it was crowded! Breakfast was busy but there were multiple venues so we always managed to get a table and it would quieten down quite quickly even at 930am! The excursion to Pompeii was amazing with a great guide and most of the destinations were enjoyable and convenient even for us to go on our own. I would advice to skip Genoa as it was quite boring. Entertainment was overall good especially the Heinkein bar and NY eve celebration was really rocking in the venues. However I would really rate the food quality as mediocre, sadly. My expectations of an Italian cruise is that food at least would be good but meals were bland, sauces lack depth, 1st night my pasta was stuck together!! Bread had rock hard exterior and light as air ( the better restaurants had better bread!) , dessert I had at the Ferrari restaurant one night was super disappointing because it was just some whipped mascarpone, pieces of biscuits- so that was lazy and too easy. However the prices of food and drinks were reasonable even without a drink package. I did love the Nutella bar which had great crepes! Pool area was noisy with kids but that is expected. There is an adult only pool outside but Dec is just too cold for that. Overall it was ok, it would have been better if they had like International night ( where English speaking guests could mingle or meet up ) like they had a Spanish night.
